Ellipsis » universal Access

Hearings into Draft Underserviced Area Definition Regulations

dom — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:02:25 +0000

Update 26 January 2012: these hearings have been postponed indefinitely as a result of the strike action at ICASA. According to a Media Release stakeholders will be informed of new dates in due course.

Hearings will be held at ICASA on the 20th January 2012 as part of the process of finalising regulations setting out the definitions relevant to universal service and access in South Africa.

Draft Regulations & Explanatory Memorandum – Under-serviced area definition (6 October 2011)

Notice of Hearings to be held in respect of the Draft Underserviced Area Definition Regulations

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Organization Time
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1. MTN 09H00-09H25
2. Telkom 09H30-09H55
3. Neotel 10H00-10h25
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TEA BREAK 10H30-10H45
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4. Cell C 10H50-11H15
5. SABC 11H20-11H45
6. Vodacom 12H00-12H25
7. SALGA 12H30-12H55
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LUNCH 13H00-13H45
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8. Sentech 13H55-14H20
9. Smile Communications 14H25-14H50
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Determination with regard to universal access and universal service

dom — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:19:11 +0000

The Department of Communications has issued a determination under section 82(3) of the Electronic Communications Act of 2005 (“the ECA”) setting out what is to be regarded as constituting (a) universal access by all areas and communities in South Africa to electronic communications services and electronic communications network services, and (b) universal provision for all people in South Africa of electronic communications services and access to electronic communications network services.

Determination of Universal Access to and Universal Service of Electronic Communications Services and Electronic Communications Network Services (Feb 2010)

The Determination also sets out universal access and universal service targets which be applicable for at least the next two years. It is not clear at this time how these targets will be applied to holders of ECS and ECNS licences.

Review of Universal Service and Access Obligation (USAO) framework

dom — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:06:10 +0000

ICASA has launched a long-overdue review of the regulatory framework surrounding the attainment of Universal Access (UA) and Universal Service (US) in South Africa through the publication of a Discussion Document and an accompanying report on the extent to which the existing framework has succeeded (or failed).

At the heart of the debate is whether SA should retain a system of imposing Universal Service and Access Obligations (USAOs) on licensees or whether we should move to a methodology which sees licensees participating in competitive processes using funds from the Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) and voluntarily assuming obligations in the event that they are succesful in such process.

Another burning question is what to do with the USAOs imposed on incumbent operators such as Telkom and the mobile networks under the Telecommunications Act. It is apparent from the report on compliance that very few of these obligations have been met and that the incumbents seem to blame a lack of clarity from ICASA and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) for such failure.

Note: the Discussion Document and Report are too big for upload. They can be obtained on request or from the ICASA website.

USAO Compliance Review Report

Public hearings were held on 8 and 9 December 2010 – USAO Review Hearings Schedule

The following written submissions were made to ICASA:
CSIR
Intel
ISPA
MNET and Multichoice
MTN
MWEB (.doc)
NAB (.doc)
Neotel
Qualcomm (.doc)
SABC (.docx)
SACF
SALGA
Smile (.doc)
Telkom
Telkom submission regarding attaching USAOs to spectrum
Transnet
Vodacom

The report was based on answers received to the following questionnaire:
ICASA Concluding Questionnaire